


[Untitled Jo Jo/Specs high school au #4]

by sherriffdeadcrackers



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: HS AU, High School AU, M/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-06
Updated: 2014-10-06
Packaged: 2018-02-20 05:12:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2416193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sherriffdeadcrackers/pseuds/sherriffdeadcrackers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another installment in my Jo Jo/Specs high school au universe. When Jo Jo and Specs realize they like guys and when they realize they like each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	[Untitled Jo Jo/Specs high school au #4]

When Specs was in 8th grade he realized he liked boys in addition to girls. He was at Jo Jo’s house, marathoning romance movies that were so bad they were good, when Jo Jo pointed to the woman on screen.

“Don’t you think she’s really cute?”

“Huh?”

“The main girl, whatever her name is. Isn’t she cute?”

“Yeah, I guess,” said Specs slowly. He was preoccupied, enamored more by the main guy in the movie. He was about to tell Jo Jo this when he realized what it meant. Oh my god, he thought, am I gay? He decided to forget about this and never mention it to anyone ever, not even his best friend, Jo Jo.

*****

His feelings did not go away. Specs almost thought they had because, to his relief, when a new girl joined his grade a few months later he found himself attracted to her. Yet when he and Jo Jo took to the mall, Specs kept finding himself distracted from his friend by passing boys, complete strangers. He shuddered, hoping these peculiar feelings would stop.

“You okay?” Jo Jo asked sympathetically.

“Probably,” Specs answered evasively.

Jo Jo looked concerned. “What does that mean?”

“It can mean what you want it to mean,” he sighed.

Jo Jo slung an arm around Specs’s shoulder. “No matter what’s bugging you, it’ll all be okay, you know?”

“Sure,” Specs said miserably, not detecting how Jo Jo’s pulse had quickened considerably when he put his arm around him.

*****

Nearly a year after Specs first realized he was attracted to boys, he realized he was sick of keeping secrets and needed to come clean. He arrived home from school, sat stiffly on his bed, and called Jo Jo to invite him over. Jo Jo arrived cheerily 15 or so minutes later. Specs motioned him into his room.

“What’s up?” Jo Jo asked keenly.

Specs screwed up his face. “I like boys. I’ve known it for a while and I just thought you should know, I guess. I’m not gay, but I like guys.”

“What, are you trying to tell me you like me?” Jo Jo prayed he sounded like he was teasing Specs, but perhaps there was too much hope in his voice.

“What? No!” Specs spluttered, giggling. “Absolutely not! Anyways, just ‘cause I like some guys doesn’t mean I like every guy. Things don’t need to be weird between us.”

“Oh. Cool,” Jo Jo made an effort not to sound disappointed.

"Thanks for listening. And, um, not being mean or judgmental. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to say now. See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah!” Jo Jo said. “See ya.” He was out the door. As he walked away, Specs found himself wishing that Jo Jo would stay with him, perhaps never leave, in a way that did not feel exactly like friendship.

*****

A few weeks later, Specs got a phone call from Jo Jo around 7 in the evening. Jo Jo had invited him for dinner. He sprinted to his garage, mounted his bike, and arrived, breathless, at Jo Jo’s house 12 minutes later. When he entered the house, Jo Jo beckoned to him and led him away from the set dining room table into his empty living room.

“Uh, Specs?” he started.

Specs tilted his head. “Yeah?”

“I mean, I wanted to tell you that I like boys too.”

Specs eyes widened. “Oh yeah? Cool.”

Jo Jo looked past Specs. “Yup.”

“Are you trying to tell me you like me?” Specs said suddenly, mocking Jo Jo.

Jo Jo laughed and said, “Actually, yes.”

Specs was taken aback. “What…? Whoa…! Um….”

“Hey, I didn’t mean to make this weird. I just didn’t want to keep this from you,” Jo Jo explained.

“Yeah, I get that. It’s okay,” Specs said.

Jo Jo looked sadly into his lap momentarily, but revived seconds later. “Mom made hamburgers for dinner! Come on!”

*****

Two days later, Specs called Jo Jo around 9 PM. Jo Jo dashed downstairs, grabbed his pogo stick, and made his way to Specs’s house. He flung open the unlocked door without knocking and sped to Specs’s room. Specs was sitting on top of his pillow. Jo Jo took a seat in a wooden chair across from where Specs was perched.

“Um,” Specs said. “Okay, so two days ago when you said that you liked me I totally thought like two seconds after you said it that I was making it up and it didn’t actually happen and I know I didn’t really say anything besides ‘Cool,’ but what I meant to say was ‘I like you too.’”

Jo Jo, who had been leaning farther and farther forward as Specs spoke, crashed off of the chair. “What?”

“I said that I like you too. And I was wondering if you want to go to the diner after school tomorrow.”

Jo Jo’s face was a muddle of emotions and expressions. Finally he managed, voice slurred with confusion, “We go to the diner after school every day….”

“But we’ve never gone as boyfriends,” Specs reminded him.

Jo Jo considered this. The thought was too tantalizing for him to respond with anything coherent. After several attempts to construct a sentence he managed a “Yeah!” He stood up and sat beside Specs, running a hand through his fair curly hair. Specs reached for Jo Jo’s other hand.

“I guess I’ll meet you tomorrow there, right after school?” Specs asked.

“Same as always,” Jo Jo confirmed.

“Not the same as always,” Specs chided.

“Not exactly,” Jo Jo agreed. “Do you mind if I stay the night?”

Specs giggled. “Not at all.”


End file.
